Call me crazy, but really good salads make me happy. So does a really good breakfast bowl. Make them both with organic ingredients meant to nourish both body and soul and I’m hooked.
It’s why I’ve got a serious girl crush on the offerings at Brooklyn Organic Kitchen in Mahopac. The Tuscan Quinoa Bowl, filled with sautéed kale, quinoa, onions, cherry tomatoes, butternut squash and two fried eggs on top (though you can get your eggs any way) was the best thing I ate this week. It was filling, packed with flavor and went perfect with my cinnamon-topped latte.
I’m also officially addicted to the Modern Greek Salad made with tenderized kale, white quinoa, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, red onions, feta, crispy garbanzos and an out-of-this-world housemade fresh lemon dressing I wish chef/owner Sandra Marinelli would bottle.
If it all sounds like a lot of kale for one day, I promise you it’s not. I like kale, but in moderation, which is what both of these dishes offer. The salad was perfect — light, fresh and a refreshing change from the traditional version thanks to the slightly nutty flavor of the quinoa, the garbanzos and the balance of the other ingredients.
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What’s also AH-mazing are the pastries, which include an always seasonal, ever-changing cake or cakes. I had a hefty slice of the vegan and gluten-free blueberry lavender and am already dreaming about getting it again (I should have bought two slices!) The long counter in the front, which you see upon entry, can’t help but entice you with its parade of treats and muffins, in a variety of gluten-free, vegan and regular offerings.
That’s what makes this place, at this location since July 2020, such an object of my affection: There are soooo many choices to accommodate so many types of eaters. Though not a 100% vegan or gluten-free spot, there’s a lot of options including Just Egg omelets, waffles (go for the Nutella), juices, soups, sandwiches, salads and more.
Plus the desserts will have you wanting to order those before you even get to your entree (as I did). There are also equally-delicious lattes including a strawberry rose matcha latte that was recently added to the menu (it’s Marinelli’s new fave!)
Marinelli bought the original Brooklyn Coffee House (which was at another Mahopac location) in 2014, turned it into Brooklyn Organic Kitchen and, as she expanded, made the menu her own. She was closed for three years while she dealt with her husband’s illness and also went to Manhattan’s Natural Gourmet Institute to expand her culinary knowledge. In February 2020, she signed a new lease on South Lake Boulevard and, due to the restrictions of the pandemic, officially opened in July.
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As someone who grew up in a large, pizzeria-owning Italian family that was “always cooking and eating,” Marinelli’s passion for food and hospitality started young. Her ideas about nutrition increased over time but came to the surface more while raising her family (she has five kids).
“Health and nutrition were always at the forefront of my interest in food, the desire to create and eat something delicious and actually feel good afterwards,” she said.
Spending summers in Italy visiting family who owned restaurants, it was always a lifelong dream to own her own place where she could cook for people with different dietary preferences.
Which is where she is now.
She thinks what makes her 50-seat restaurant so popular — at first she wasn’t sure if it would work in Mahopac — is the quality of her ingredients. “Yes, I love to cook and create new recipes and especially come up with creative health-supportive twists of traditional dishes; however, I know that at the end of the day if the ingredients aren’t the best quality, my food will be just OK,” she said.
“I know that we are creating our bodies every day with every bite that we take, and I take that seriously. I wouldn’t use an ingredient or feed a customer a dish I wouldn’t feed to my own children.”
The addition of vegan chef Armando Aviles has also helped Marinelli elevate the quality of the restaurant’s vegan dishes. He’s responsible for most of the vegan baking (including the blueberry lavender cake I loved!) and has an expertise in flavoring and creating vegan proteins such as the restaurant’s seitan chicken cutlet and mushroom chicken and ‘calamari’ that make them highly sought after.
I’m already planning my next visit and salivating over the organic pancakes where you can add chocolate chips or fruit — or even go for “bananas foster” — or the Brooklyn French Toast, a coconut milk-based batter with cinnamon that also comes with either a traditional egg, vegan Just Egg or fruit.
If you go
Address: 890 South Lake Blvd., Mahopac, 845-621-2655, bokmahopac.com.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Good to know: Pastries are ever-changing but traditional, vegan and gluten-free muffins are always available. You’ll also find banana bread, cinnamon rolls and brownies available daily. Specialty cakes are also available for catering; they do gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and vegan.
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Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.